Wednesday, May 13, 2009

There's a famous roast chicken recipe you may have heard of called "chicken with 40 cloves of garlic." While the amount of garlic in that recipe seems impressive, the fact that the garlic cloves are left whole results in a sweet and fairly mild garlic experience.

This chicken with 20 cloves of garlic isn't quite so subtle, and features the "stinking rose" in a pungent one-two punch. The fistful of garlic is first pureed and used as a marinade, then used as a sticky glaze as the chicken roasts. The result is chicken as a very effective garlic delivery system.

As you'll hear in the video, I recommend throwing a handful of chopped Italian parsley on top when you serve this delicious chicken. Fresh parsley really does freshen the breath when large amounts of garlic are consumed. In fact, this is the origins of the ubiquitous sprig of parsley that sits uneaten on so many plates.

By the way, that reminds me of one of the first dirty kitchen jokes I ever heard, and still one of my favorites. Since I get a fair share of minors on the blog, you'll fill in the blanks yourself, but it really shouldn't be too hard.

Parsley: would cilantro work also? - I despise parsley. We share a tiny enclosed office at work, its four of us sitting in there and my colleagues did me no wrongs. (The two of them are Chinese - they could easily retaliate with the fish sauce...)

I'm down here in Zimbabwe. Wasted a lot of time playing games. Now I have a new addiction. Good thing is: I have fun and learn at the same time. My family is really impressed with my cooking these days. Chef u are a superstar! Am buying six chickens then cut and pack according to parts. This recipe will be for drumsticks. If picky eaters in my house wont eat? Will have a one woman party!Oh boy I am so excited!!!

Me and the hubby LOVE your videos--the way you cook and instruct is so fun to watch. :)

I made this twice in the same week. The house reeked of garlic while this was baking, and my husband came home from work and told me that he could smell this from outside the house. We basked in the glorious stink. This is some mighty fabulous chicken. Thank you so much for sharing!

I love garlic and i really want to try this...although i wanted to ask you few things about it.

1. Does 1 whole chicken equivalent to 1kg?2. Can i use Chicken Breast Fillet for this recipe? if so...How much chicken can i use with this recipe?3. Is it ok if i half this recipe, would it still taste good and the same as the original?4. I dont have red pepper flakes...will 1/2 tsp of hot sauce do as a replacement?5. Am not very good at eyeballing the salt and pepper. Can i just add like about 1/2tsp of salt and pepper to the garlic paste instead?..hehe! sori for being so wanting to be precise...:P

I made this last night for the family. I prepped it in the morning and let it marinate for about six hours instead of overnight, but it was still magnificent. Even with my crappy knives, I was able to make it work. I'm definitely working this recipe into the regular rotation. Thanks again, Chef John!

I've been on a garlic binge lately. I have made garlic soup, garlic fries, garlic bread... and your garlic chicken recipe was next in line. I just made this today. Subbed the red wine vinegar with apple cider vinegar, upped the garlic by a few more cloves, added some ginger, a medium onion, and some cayenne pepper. It turned out moist, tender and delicious! Wow, I never thought I could make something like this at home. THANK YOU, CHEF JOHN!!! Wishing you and Michelle a wonderful 2012 ahead!

Tried this out, and my whole family enjoyed it!!! =) Thank you so much for the fun and informative videos! I learnt/am learning so much about food and how ingredients work best from these recipes! cheers!

Dear Chef John,I have tried many of your recipes and love their simplicity and great results. I cook a lot and am always looking for tips & techniques to help improve my cooking. I have learned a lot from you. Thanks.I do have a question on this recipe, why did you choose to add the salt right before baking rather than add it to the marinate? Wouldn't the saltiness penetrate the chicken better if it was in the marinate? Happy New Year!!

I've been a silent follower for a long time and I've made this recipe a few times and love it. Being a single guy, I've had to cut the ingredients in half because it makes more than I need. The other night I had 2 lbs of really nice boneless, skinless chicken breast and as I was going to use this recipe, I thought I'd be creative and add my personal touch. Here's the list of ingredients that I used.

I cut up the chicken breast into large pieces and scored them so they would absorb the marinade and baked them the same as in the original recipe. The brown sugar and miso paste really kick it up. Thanks for a recipe I'll use for a long time.

Ok I have been obsessively watching your videos. Going to make the garlic and olive oil pasta tomorrow and this garlic chicken the next day. Yu-um. I used your ciabatta recipe and turned it into a focaccia. Super yummy! Can't believe I have never come across your site before. Guess it has something to do with living in Saudia Arabia for two years and now South Korea:) (I'm Canadian)

CJ: I know you posted this years ago and frankly after coming across this on Youtube looking for a different treatment for wings it took a bit of effort to find the original post on your website. So perhaps leaving a comment at this point is rather moot. However I will anyway.

I made six pounds of wings using this marinade and took them to a gathering last weekend. Since I was doing a quick marinade I left it on the counter and the aroma of garlic was intoxicating for those three hours (oh yeah.) My daughter and I were soooo looking forward to these. I got one piece, and only because I nibbled on one as I set that big bowl-o-wings down on the table. My daughter and her friends got none. Zip, zero. I couldn't even find the bowl until it came out of the dishwasher later in the evening.

I am making this again, four pounds of wings worth, tonight. And the only diners are me, my daughter, and her friends. Folks, this is a garlic chicken marinade recipe to die for!